Mark Cavendish admits he is normally only happy if he wins but 'loved' helping team-mate Steve Cummings to the Tour of Britain title.

Having already won 10 stages at the Tour of Britain during his remarkable career, most fans would have expected Cavendish to add to that total last week, particularly after he dominated the sprint stages at the Tour de France.

But the 31-year-old Manxman played a very different role during the eight-day event from Glasgow to London - via gruelling days in the Lake District, Wales and Dartmoor - as he helped control the race for Team Dimension Data at the expense of his own chances.

Mark Cavendish says he 'loved' helping team-mate Steve Cummings to the Tour of Britain title

Steve Cummings won his first Tour of Britain on Sunday after finishing runner-up twice

'I am really happy we won. Steve spoke to me on the phone a week before and said he wanted to go for it, so I'm massively pleased we did it,' Cavendish told Press Association Sport.

'It's tough controlling a week-long stage race with a six-man team so we had to prioritise. I've been in teams that have tried to do everything and you can easily end up with nothing.

'I love working for the team, closing down breaks and that, but I usually do it before the cameras are on.

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'I'm not like (German sprint rival Andre) Greipel who likes to work when the TV coverage starts!'

Just as Cavendish is always quick to praise his colleagues' hard work, a relieved Cummings admitted he had felt under pressure to close the deal.

Speaking following his win on Sunday, the 35-year-old from Merseyside said: 'With Mark Cavendish sacrificing his chances at the Tour of Britain for me, anything other than a win would have been a failure.

Cummings became the first first home Tour of Britain winner since Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2013

'So there was a lot of pressure but I am glad we managed to pull it off.

'It is another good win this season for us all, for the team, all our team sponsors and partners and one I really enjoyed too.'

The South African-based team have been a revelation over the last two seasons but, despite only three teams winning more races than them, Dimension Data sit bottom of the WorldTour rankings, which are weighted towards overall finishes, not wins, and are based only on races on the WorldTour circuit, so the Tour of Britain victory will not count.

Cavendish, however, said he is 'super happy' with his first season on the team, which included those four Tour de France stage wins and a day wearing the famous yellow jersey.

'We've just won the Tour of Britain and the King of the Mountains at the Vuelta (thanks to Spain's Omar Fraile),' said Cavendish.

'We made a list of our goals for this season at our training camp and we've smashed it.'

Cavendish played a part in Cummings' win, playing the role of super-domestique

Much the same could be said of his own list of goals, with another World Championships title on the track added in March, that yellow jersey and an Olympic medal all ticked off.

Arguably the best road sprinter of all time, Cavendish has one more target for the season - a second world road race title in Qatar next month - before he properly reflects on all he has achieved, but he has started to come to terms with another great performance that did not end with him on the top step.

'I'm never really happy unless I win and I haven't had much chance to reflect on it - I'll do that at the end of the season - but I am happy about it,' said Cavendish when asked about his Olympic silver in track's multi-discipline omnium event last month.

'I had lots of congratulations on the medal and I was like 'OK' but then somebody said to me 'hard luck' and it kind of hit me in the stomach how much that silver meant to me.

'I tried my best and it's not like Elia (Viviani) didn't deserve to win - he was the most consistent across the six events.'

Cummings was protected by his teammates as he crossed the finish line with the main group